TLTP
COLOMBO
Muslims in Sri Lanka are outraged over the forced cremation of a 20-day-old Covid-19 victim last week against the family’s wishes, the latest in more than a dozen such cremations in the Buddhist-majority country since the pandemic erupted.
Ignoring the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines which permit both burials and cremations, Sri Lanka in March made cremation mandatory for people who die or are suspected to have died of the coronavirus infection.
On December 9, baby Shaykh was forcibly cremated in a cemetery in Borella, the largest suburb of Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo – the youngest among 15 Muslims to be cremated, thereby denying them Islamic funeral rites.
Shaykh’s father MFM Fahim told the media he could not gather the courage to witness the burning of his infant son’s body. “I told them that I cannot go into a place where they are burning my baby. My friends and family asked the authorities how they can go ahead with the cremation when neither of the parents had signed any document giving consent,” Fahim said.
Muslims and Christians bury the dead. But Sri Lanka’s mandatory cremation policy for those infected with Covid-19 has left minority communities feeling helpless and angry.
“It is a communal decision they took. The government wants to hurt the feelings of the minorities. They are violating WHO guidelines and basic human rights,” Azath Salley, leader of the National Unity Alliance (NUA) and former governor of the Western Province said.
“They did not even spare a child who was only 20 days old. To add to the family’s sorrow, they were even asked by the government to pay [approximately $300] to cover the costs of cremation,” he said.
Salley urged the international community to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to “respect the beliefs of the minorities and to allow them to bury their dead”.
The Sri Lankan health authorities say the bodies of Covid-19 victims will contaminate the groundwater if they are buried.
When the Muslim and Christian groups petitioned the country’s Supreme Court, citing the right to bury according to rituals as a fundamental right, the court on December 1 dismissed their concerns.
Muslims, who make up nearly 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s 21 million people, have faced increased attacks from majority Sinhala Buddhist hardliners following the end of a civil war between Tamil separatists and government forces in 2009.
Relations between the two communities deteriorated further after deadly church attacks on Easter Sunday in April last year, claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) group.
Several protests were reported across northeastern Sri Lanka this month against the forced cremations, with many tying white ribbons to the gates of the crematorium as a sign of their anger.
Many others protested online, claiming that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was using the pandemic to marginalise Sri Lanka’s minorities, especially Muslims.
Rights group Amnesty International also released a statement, saying the government should ensure all Sri Lankans are “treated equitably”.
“COVID-19 does not discriminate on grounds of ethnic, political or religious differences, and nor should the Government of Sri Lanka,” it said.
